Sympathy for the Devil
by WhoIsAtlas
Summary: "This is what you wanted, isn't it?" The blood that caked Ayano's formerly pristine uniform was still fresh, its coppery smell assaulting her senses and filling her nose. "A sacrifice? I've just given you the real thing when you were ready to give up." Eventual Ayano/Oka and Ayano/Taro (Senpai).


sympathy for the devil

Chapter I  
Black Magic Woman

"There is no law beyond do what thou wilt."  
\- Aleister Crowley, _The Book of the Law_ (1904)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yandere Simulator/LoveSick. [Insert needless citation of the Fair Use Act of 1976 here]

If anyone were to ask Ayano Aishi about the tragedies that had cast their shadow over the school the past few weeks they'd get a different answer for each one.

Osana Najimi? She had been on various honor rolls over the years. A pity she had been desperate to maintain her edge and had been caught with various answer sheets to several of her classes. Osana should have known she would be expelled for that.

Amai Odayaka? It had been a shame she had not been more careful in watching what she was putting into her food and she had mistaken the bleaching powder for flour. It was bad enough that had happened but worse that she had decided to taste test her baked goods before serving them to anyone else.

Kizana Sunobu? No one could explain how the bucket filled with concrete used to weigh down the curtains had managed to make its up to the catwalks and fall onto the poor young actress' head. Last week's rendition of _Romeo & Juliet_ wouldn't have ended early if someone had. It was one of her favorite plays too.

It was nothing more than what one of her fellow students might say in passing to each other. None of them were certain if there was a killer among them but she understood no one wanted to entertain the possibility. Those sorts of things happened elsewhere; not in Buraza Town and certainly not at Akademi. Headmaster Shuyona had told them all there was nothing to worry about. Accidents did happen.

So long as they chose to remain willfully ignorant Ayano knew she was safe. She would not be giving up on her quest to keep her Senpai safe from the parasites that filled the school's halls. No, that was a thankless job that required her constant vigilance. Yet every murder was a gamble and even the possibility of a single mistake made her stomach churn. That was why Ayano had decided she needed time to gather her thoughts on how to progress from her recent string of successes. No one's luck stayed with them forever and she was not about to push it any further than she had to. Not when her very future with Senpai was at stake if the police caught her.

Her sabbatical had absolutely nothing to do, of course, with the fact that she had been so absorbed in getting into the drama club last week that she had completely neglected to take any panty shots for her partner-in-crime. Ayano certainly did not _like_ the bespectacled girl and she trusted her about as much as she did being served a plate of fugu but she had her uses. She could begrudgingly admit that she would not have been able to get as far as she had if she had chosen not to take Info-chan up on her offer to exchange her peculiar currency for favors. Info-chan's knowledge of every piece of dirty laundry that the school had to offer was impressive. She saw the world for what it truly was: a place where the strong sat above the rest and the weak fought for scraps at the bottom of the heap. For that reason alone Ayano found Info-chan at least tolerable and it seemed it was a feeling that was mutual between them. Ayano did not know why the girl had taken such an interest in her mission but even if she did give her an answer it would have meant nothing to her.

All that mattered was Senpai and if there was one other person to take the fall if things got out of hand then who was she to complain?

But she knew that Info-chan was a businesswoman first and foremost; no product, no sale. Ayano had considered even taking a train to Shisuta Town, perhaps to one of the nightclubs downtown, as a possible substitute for her failure to obtain photos earlier in the week. There would not be a problem getting drunken women to act clumsy and expose themselves to her, Ayano had thought to herself. But with every establishment Ayano considered they all gave her the same problems. She had nothing in her closet that she could describe as being for parties (she had never gone to one). Ayano had no reason to own a fake ID to pass herself off as 20 either and she had no idea how to go about asking the bouncers if their bosses would allow minors. Ayano was sure even if she did manage to chat them up to give her any leeway it was not as if she could entice them. Ayano was a spitting image of her mother in almost every way – except for two differences. Two very large, very noticeable differences.

So she had stayed home just as she had many nights before staring blankly at the pages of the latest volume of _Magical Girl Miyuki_ as she mulled over what the coming week might bring. Perhaps she would be lucky and there would be no one to pursue Senpai's affections. But who was she kidding? Once they took one look at **her** man and listened to his melodic voice Ayano knew that they would find him irresistible. Not that they would ever succeed of course but the temptation would always be there. Her next victim would try to make awkward small talk throughout the week and Senpai would laugh and smile at all of her terrible jokes out of politeness. The unlucky girl would be utterly smitten and he would be oblivious to the feelings that were slowly growing like a weed in her heart. Ayano knew how it would play out; she had seen it three separate times now and it made her want to wretch just as much as each time before it.

She was... blind. That was what Ayano felt (oh, how many emotions Senpai could bring out in her!). She was fumbling now after having gotten away for three weeks straight scot-free. The trails on who would be the next target on her hit list had run cold. She kicked herself for not trying to multitask but she knew it would do her no good. She had to steady herself. Just because she was starting with a handicap meant nothing. It would work out in the end, she was sure of it. Ayano could be her usual wallflower self and things would follow from there. There had been no problems with that for her for the first 17 years of her life; no one noticed or cared about the strange girl who kept to herself in the back corner of each class. Her so-called peers ran their mouths endlessly, babbling about this or that, hardly concerning themselves with who might be listening. Senpai was a relatively popular boy and sooner or later his name would come up regarding who might next try to win his hand. All she had to do was be patient.

The wind that whipped past Ayano as she pedaled her bike along the empty streets of Buraza Town was strangely cold for spring. Admittedly 6:30 in the morning was well before the sun came up but she was glad that she had brought along a blazer just in case. The starchy feeling of the black jacket however was something that Ayano could certainly do without. It somehow managed to rub every part of her the wrong way but it at least did its job of keeping her warm. At the very least she could also keep the blood in her legs flowing as she sped up, determined to reach her destination before anyone else. Perhaps if she just got to the front of the school she would find herself in the optimal spot to follow a group of students into the entrance hall, and if she were equally as careful, well, she was sure that none of them would be the wiser if she took a few up skirt pictures. Ayano had gotten fairly good at being discrete about it by now if she were completely honest. It was part of the closest thing that she had developed for herself that could be called a 'morning routine.'

Get up. Brush teeth. Bathe. Eat breakfast. Leave. Arrive at Akademi. Scout her fellow students. Take pictures. Text Info-chan. Get to class by 8.

Senpai had changed everything. She had an honest-to-gods schedule now and Ayano could not – would not – imagine going back to the way things had been before. That was Senpai's greatest gift to her. No one had ever made her feel the way he did and she was certain that no one else ever could. Senpai…

Senpai made her feel like a normal girl.

Normal. Normal like the people that she went to school with or the men and women dressed in uncomfortable but expensive looking business suits that she whizzed by on her way to Akademi. Normal like she belonged in one of the endless rows of houses that made up the well-to-do neighborhoods of Buraza Town. It would complete her mask. To the world she would be nothing more than Ayano Aishi, a high school student with average grades and even more average aspirations, who would settle down with her high school sweetheart in a quiet suburb. She fantasized about it even now. Her dreams were filled with Senpai the Salaryman and Ayano the Housewife all alone save for the sound of the pattering of small feet against a wooden floor in a modest Japanese-style home. It would be everything she could ever want. _He_ was everything she could ever want.

The quiet stillness of the morning air was broken as she made her way along an all too familiar path. Cars began to mingle with walking pedestrians as the city woke up from its slumber with honking horns and the chugging of the train in the distance acting like an alarm clock. Rows of people brushed by her as she carefully navigated the streets as she pulled gently at her bike's brake at one of the many intersections that dotted Buraza Town. All around her adults were busy checking or answering their phones, looking at watches, or gnawing at whatever food item they'd managed to grab before leaving their homes or buy along the way. It was moments like this that Ayano briefly forgot how much she hated the insects that buzzed about her and could simply be safe in the knowledge that they neither knew nor cared about who she really was.

The walking sign at the crosswalk switched and Ayano started weaving past her fellow pedestrians before breaking into a faster pace once she hit the sidewalk again. The horizon was just beginning to see the earliest rays of light as the sun began to crest over the mountains at the small city's eastern edge as the sky went from inky darkness to a royal purple and orange. This too was a ritual that Ayano had taught herself. Before Senpai her arrival at school had been leisurely; she had no reason to care whether she was there at 7, 7:15, or even 7:30. She pretended to only because that was what was expected of her. 'Go to school to earn good grades so you can go onto another school to earn a well-paying job' was society's mantra. Her grades were nothing exceptional but they would at least be passable on any future transcript to a university. Perhaps they would have been better if only she could have found something to be passionate about. Like Senpai. She was proving to be quite the adept criminal and all she had needed was the right push.

Maybe that was what Info-chan had seen in her weeks ago: raw, untapped potential just waiting to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting student body.

Endless wave after wave of neon signs slowly faded behind her as she continued on. The school had been built decades ago in the aftermath of World War II – a remnant of American investment in the economy, the name itself being some sort of pun in English – and it showed. The bland but utilitarian exterior had once been a bustling place for aspiring students to come and receive some of the best education in the country before the nation's economic recovery in the 1970s. But Japan's prosperity had caused Akademi to fall on hard times whether it was from competing private schools or even the more robust public system. No one seemed to want to be stuck with a reminder of the horrors of war and the humiliation brought by having been built with the money of an occupying power. Though the property taxes from the surrounding affluent area had kept it afloat for some time there were rumors that Headmaster Shuyona was struggling with the school's finances. Ayano was sure that was a reason why the police never seemed to stick around longer than a few hours at a time whenever she picked off one of her rivals for Senpai's affections. Bad publicity meant that scared parents would take their children out of the school and move elsewhere. No parents meant funds would dry up and Akademi would close its doors. Not that Headmaster Shuyona would have to worry about that. She would make sure that she always cleaned up after herself or at the very least make her victims' deaths or misfortunes seem like accidents.

She skid to a halt outside the school's sizable iron gates and hopped off, wheeling the blood red bicycle over to the side of the entrance next to the school's bike rack. Reaching into the small basket in front of her she pulled out her worn leather briefcase and then the lock before tightening it around the neck of the handlebars to the rack itself. Unsurprisingly, as she looked around, Ayano knew that she was the first student here. They would all filter in in due time but for now she had nothing but the distant sound of the city to keep her company. Glancing up at the massive clock situated in the middle of the school's tallest tower she could see that it read 6:45. Ayano squared her shoulders and leaned against one of the stone pillars at the school's gate and settled in. 15 minutes until Akademi opened its doors and she would have to don her disguise of the innocent and unassuming schoolgirl.

It was not that Ayano could not deal with this. She had always done that very same thing each and every morning ever since she had started attending classes. She could remember standing with her mother at the entrance of first grade when she was six-years-old before she saw her off on the first day of school. Ayano had always known she was not like the other girls and boys that lived in her neighborhood and her mother had taken her aside and told her it would be okay.

'You're… different, sweetheart. They don't understand that but I do. I went through the same thing when I was your age and so did your grandmother. You've got to be brave for me, alright? Laugh when they do; smile when they do. You won't feel the same but that's okay. It will make them relax. It's what they want to see. Who knows, maybe you'll even make a friend.'

Ayano had not made a friend during elementary school or her entire life for that matter. Well, unless one counted the half-wits in the drama club last week who had tried earnestly to connect with her. Curiosity was one of the few things that Ayano could truly understand and it endlessly fascinated her that they had been as persistent as they had. She had looked at the ground, mumbled softly, had no strong opinions on effectively any subject they asked her about and yet they did not seem to mind. What had been the point? Sunobu had ruled over her fellow drama enthusiasts like the club was her own personal kingdom. Did they want someone around so that her endless nitpicking would be somewhere else other than on them? Had it all been an act to hopefully entice her to stick around? She had dropped the club before Sunobu's corpse was cold, telling them that she was scared out of her mind for her life, barely able to contain the laughter she had been trying desperately hard to suppress. Oh well. Some things in life were simply mysteries to her and she supposed that this was yet another that would elude her.

She was broken out of her thoughts by an abrupt grazing that occurred somewhere near her feet. Glancing down near her black shoes Ayano was met with a small gray-and-white cat staring up at her expectantly as it rubbed against her again. Reaching down Ayano lazily rubbed her fingers against the creature's neck, causing it to begin instantly purring and rolling around on the concrete. With no staff on school grounds motivated enough to chase it away the stray had wandered in at the start of the year and never bothered to leave. Not that her fellow students had helped to dissuade it either. The cat, who everyone had taken to calling 'Raijin' after its coat had reminded someone of a stormy day, had become an unofficial mascot. Not that Ayano understood its appeal. All it did was lounge about begging for attention, food, and little else. For Raijin's part he heard none of her unspoken criticisms and simply rolled onto his back, paws tucked to its chest and mewled to get her attention once more.

Ayano tickled the creature's stomach gently. She felt nothing from touching the cat but there was no point in killing it. It had not hurt her and all it would mean was yet another corpse she would have to dispose of. It could even come in handy. She was sure that Senpai would adore something like this even if she could never appreciate it. He sat every day at lunch sighing at the falling cherry blossoms and no matter how much he saw them as the trees' petals fell gracefully to the courtyard floor. If he could derive that much satisfaction from flowers then surely he would be even happier with a living thing that he could care for. Yes, maybe she could coax Raijin into following her home one day and tame it. Ayano felt her heart slam into her ribcage at the thought of him breaking into an enormous smile when she told him that she had thought of him when she had decided to take Raijin in.

 _Ohyesyanchanidolovecatshowdidyouknowitwassothoughtfulofyoutothinkaboutmethatswhatarealgirlfriendwoulddo_.

Ayano could feel her cheeks begin to flush at the imaginary praise. Maybe she really would try to bring Raijin home. If it meant being in her kami's good graces then no price was too high. Underneath her hand she barely registered the excited Raijin rolling back and forth under touch. Yet there was a nagging thought in the back of her head and the more she thought about it the more she could not shake it. Such a scenario was all well and good unless…

Her dark eyes shot open with panic, her hand instantly moving from the animal as she slowly brought it up to her face as Raijin gave a confused meow. _Selfish Ayano. Stupid Ayano,_ her mind practically screamed at her. _How could you assume anything?!_ She was dimly aware of Raijin sitting and looking at her what could only be described as an indignant expression. She wanted to kick the offending creature away from her like a football. There would be others. It was nothing special and could easily be replaced. Senpai would not miss one cat out of a million. Especially not if…

Especially not if he were allergic to them.

She glanced down at her hands as if they had betrayed her. Senpai had awoken many feelings in her. The first of them was love. She had not known what it was before but the warmth in her chest that spread throughout her entire being whenever she even thought of him was what all of her manga had told her love was like. The second was rage but that was only when other girls tried to talk to him. Raw anger was nothing to be ashamed of. It had changed the world on many occasions and was her only real ally. Yet the third was the one that she wished she could trade away and that was fear. It did not make her feel like she was the most beautiful woman in the world and did not give her the strength to snuff out the lives of those who were not worthy of Senpai's magnificence. It was a cold, slimy thing that could sneak up on her without any warning and she could never be sure just how long it would last. Some moments were smaller and even manageable. Stubbed toes or not doing well on an exam were minor inconveniences for her Senpai though Ayano's heart always ached when she heard him complain. The slightest inkling of interest, though always misplaced, by Senpai towards the girls who were brave enough to step forward was the worst. He would not know any better to refuse the oni before him and if she slipped only a little bit all would be lost.

"Mrow?"

Raijin's cry broke her concentration once more. Ayano glanced down disdainfully at the cat before nudging it away with the tip of her shoe. The animal tried a few more times to get her to pet it before it eventually got the hint and wandered away from her, its tail swishing in annoyance. At least that was something Ayano could credit animals for. If you repeated an action enough eventually they got the hint. Not like humans. Humans despite millions of years' worth of evolution thought themselves too clever to learn when to give up.

The sound of pounding sneakers against concrete broke her concentration and caused her to turn her head as Kyoshi Taisho, the school's P.E. teacher of indeterminate middle age, came into view, arms and legs working in tandem as she huffed and puffed towards Ayano. The older woman was a familiar face that she had long been accustomed to seeing even before starting her life's mission. While there was an expected rotation of Akademi's faculty as to whom would be in charge of opening the gates every morning and greeting the students Taisho always seemed to be the one who did so the most. The blond-haired woman eyed Ayano and offered her a friendly smile as she walked beside her to the gate while fishing out a key from one of her red tracksuit's pockets.

"I just wish you could convince your classmates to be as punctual as you are, Aishi," Taisho noted dryly as she reached out to open the gate's heavy iron doors.

Ayano did not like communicating with others if she could help it. It was a winding, tedious process that always put her on edge. She was sure her true nature would never come through her carefully constructed façade but the fear – that damnable thing – was always there. Luckily for her if you talked to someone long enough you could predict in advance what they would say or, rather, how they wanted a conversation to go.

"Can't help it if they're not as eager to learn as I am, Ms. Taisho…"

That elicited a groan from the teacher followed by an eye roll. Ayano knew that it was not a very good lie. Few students actually enjoyed coming to Akademi and even fewer enjoyed having to actually learn. But it was all part of her ruse. If you could at least give the illusion that you were a model student then they would never suspect you of being a culprit of unspeakable acts.

"C'mon, Aishi, we both know that's not true. No one's that enthusiastic to come to school every day and especially not when we're four weeks into the semester. What's the special occasion?"

She really did not want to be having this talk. It was absolutely none of Taisho's business why she was here as early as she was. The spray-tanned woman, however, had taken to the annoying habit of trying to 'connect' with every student that walked through the school's gates. Ayano was sure that Taisho had more in common with the students that would walk past her that morning than she did right down to the complete disinterest in anything remotely intellectual but it would do her no good to sour things between them. For whatever reason Taisho found Ayano good enough company to strike up a conversation with her every time they so much as glanced at one another in the halls.

"Oh. Nothing. Just like peace and quiet. No students," Ayano waved a hand, "no noise."

"Heh. Music to my ears. You know what I wouldn't give sometimes not to stand up here every morning at the ass cra – at dawn? Would've allowed me to get the years of beauty sleep Shuyona owes me. They don't include that in your benefits, let me tell ya."

Ayano gave what she hoped was a polite laugh at the attempt at humor (she supposed it was good enough as Taisho shot her a grin). The faculty member never questioned the way she spoke, stilted and flat, perhaps out of politeness or perhaps because she simply did not care. The gym teacher certainly did like to listen to herself talk and Ayano knew that if she did not break away from her soon she would be stuck with her right up until the bell rang.

The older woman finished pushing the gates open as she gave Ayano an appraising look. Tutting the instructor reached forward hesitantly before she straightened Ayano's skirt, smoothed the shoulders of her uniform, and gently tugged at her ponytail as Ayano stood there blinking. Taisho gave her an apologetic look before moving away to stand at one of the entrance's pillars.

"…Sorry about that. I'm a mom myself and I know I wouldn't let any of my own go to school with a crumpled uniform on. I mean, I'm sure you can take care of yourself, Aishi, but doesn't your mother stay at home…?"

"It's alright."

It really had not been. She had had to fight her desire to reach out and break Taisho's fingers.

"Mother and father are out on a trip for ten weeks. I try to take care of myself as best I can."

Taisho gave her a sympathetic glance, eyes beginning to fill with misplaced concern, and Ayano thought idly what it would be like to gouge them out.

"Ten weeks, huh? Where did they run off to?"

"America for their anniversary. They're off to see an old friend of mother's who moved there."

"That's pretty far. Can't say I've ever wanted to go outside of the country myself. And you're holding up alright?"

"I can take care of myself."

Whatever motherly instincts that Taisho had been left unsatisfied with Ayano's answer as she could see the older woman's mouth crumple in a distinct frown. Whatever. She had better things to do than to stand there and be doted on by a failed athlete. Info-chan's pictures were not going to take themselves after all.

The loud chatter of students from down the sidewalk caused both of their heads to turn. Students passed one another or huddled together in small groups as they came like a human wave down the street towards their destination, a sea of white, blue, red, and black colored uniforms. Ayano's ears were already burning from their inane chit chat as she turned back to Taisho. The teacher looked as if she wanted to say something and Ayano waited patiently for her dismissal, eying the massive clock behind her interrogator as discretely as she could.

7:05 a.m.

It would have to do.

"Well, if you're sure, Aishi, make sure you stay on the level, alright? You're one of the good ones here and I don't tell that to just anyone. Your peers could learn a thing or two from you. But I want you to start ironing, young lady. There's no reason a beautiful girl like you should look so… frumpy. Show some effort! Who knows? Maybe you'll even catch a _boy_ that way," Taisho said with a conspiratorial wink.

Ayano did her best to look away bashfully, forcing a blush to work its way onto her face (her favorite mental image for conjuring them when she needed to was the time she had snuck in on Senpai in the boys' locker room to steal a pair of his boxers and nothing was left to her imagination anymore). She gave a small bow and a curt nod before quickly moving past the instructor and onto the pathway towards the school. As if Ayano would ever need to worry or care about what any of the knuckle-dragging cavemen who attended classes with her thought. She had Senpai and that was all that mattered. There was no need to settle for anything less than perfection when it was already waiting for you.

'One of the goods ones…'

She was glad she had decided to walk away from Taisho because she could not help the small giggle that came from her lips as she leisurely walked to Akademi's front doors. Yes, humans were exactly like insects Ayano decided. Perpetually flitting about and too dim to realize just how much danger they could be in if someone decided to end their lives on a whim. They were so trusting of everything and everyone, content to go from one routine to the next without much thought or care, until it was far too late. The warm inviting light of the hallways before her was like the window of a house on a summer night just waiting for her victims to congregate.

Ayano knew that she was more than happy to put it to good use.

* * *

Ever since she was little Oka Ruto had seen two things about people.

The first was their physical form: what they wore, distinctive facial features, their sex, and any emotions that might be playing across their features. The usual itinerary that anyone would be expected to look for when meeting someone for the first time. The second was their aura. Hundreds of multicolored shapes mingled and were in constant flux as she moved down any given street in Buraza Town trailing after their owners like some sort of ethereal pet on a leash. Children her age had scorned her, her parents had looked on with worry that their child suffered from some kind of debilitating illness, and Oka had learned to simply keep quiet about it.

That was what Oka was best at.

Keeping quiet.

Even with such a shy demeanor Oka had managed to come out generally intact at Akademi. Of course her peers whispered 'psych ward' under their breaths when they thought she could not hear them and there was the occasional gaggle of students who would make fun of her terrible stutter but it could have been worse. She was used to that by now. But she had learned at a young age that it hurt less if you simply did not bother to give them the satisfaction of your company to begin with. Snide comments meant nothing if the subject in question was not around to hear them and reputation meant little if one did not have one to ruin in the first place.

At first she had been frightened but eventually Oka had wanted some sort of explanation for the swirling energies that followed others wherever they want. Her ability was why she had found her oldest friend, books, in the first place. When she was seven she had set off to the local library and checked out every book she could on how to analyze chakras. She had devoured them quickly and from there it was one arcane subject after another. There was no creature she could not identify and no site she did not dream of visiting someday around the world. But she loved the darker aspects of magic the most of all. The light only held so much sway for her attention span and while she admitted it was partially a teenage girl's annoyance with just how mundane the light seemed to be it was more than that. Black magic needed to conceal how it worked to the average mortal, the price for its fantastic power, and Oka had always loved a good mystery.

This was not to say that she had ever actually succeeded. As embarrassing as it was to admit she had never managed to perform a single spell that she had discovered in the dusty grimoires that she had come across. The spirits or forces that lay waiting beyond the veil between earth and other planes simply refused to answer her whenever she tried to call them forth. All of her knowledge meant nothing if she had no way of applying it and she was painfully reminded of that fact every time the occult club tried yet another ritual that would inevitably go nowhere. Oka knew that she was tempting fate but the promise of actual contact with the otherworldly was too strong. Maybe then all of her peers would finally believe her, perhaps even respect her.

Yet Oka knew at this point that it was all a dream. Any mention of the occult club at school would earn a round of laughter from any of her so-called peers. It wasn't practical, so why bother? No one would put it on a resume and even if they did it would be ignored. She was the quirky, weird girl that wore spider-web pattern clothes and her friends were equally as strange looking. She could hear their taunts even now.

 _If I join your club, do I have to give up my depth perception as part of the initiation?_

 _So did you guys all plan on looking like insomniacs or was that a happy coincidence?_

 _Is joining the occult club really all that safe? Your fearless leader had to go to the…_

No.

She would not think of **that place** anymore.

Oka brought her folded arms closer to her chest and squeezed herself. Her parents loved her. She knew that. But she could not forget how somber their expressions had been as they told her that the trip they were going to make her take was for the best. That maybe, just maybe, if she let the doctors help her they could stop her 'persistent visual hallucinations.' Three weeks. That was all they wanted. "Think of it like a vacation," her father had told her. "No tests, homework, or anything like that." He had failed to mention that instead her days would instead be filled with endless chats with a psychiatrist along with a seemingly endless rotation of different pills. The man, too, had been well-meaning no matter how condescending it sounded when he told her that adolescence was a difficult time, especially for someone as lonely as she was, and that attention was something nobody should be ashamed of looking for. Human beings were social creatures he had said.

So she had told him what they wanted to hear. The 'hallucinations' were gone, that she would try to act more friendly around others, and she would try to treat her return home as a fresh start. Her parents had welcomed her back with open arms and bright smiles. Though it had only been a few weeks it felt like an eternity had gone by since they had held her tightly and told her how they were proud of her for being so brave. She did not have the heart to tell them just how pink their auras glowed as they embraced her nor how her normally purple one shone yellow that day. Everyone had their secrets and Oka knew she would have to accept that hers was bigger than most.

As she walked along the uneven sidewalk to Akademi she could not help but think just how much more her so-called peers would whisper about her return. 'Freak,' 'shut-in,' 'weirdo' – all were familiar labels that she wore like patches on a blazer from the course of her educational career. Even if they were polite to her on the surface she knew that they would retreat back to their cliques and talk about her behind her back. It did not even make her mad at this point. At the very least she could pretend when she walked to and from school that each of their faces was one of the rocks beneath her feet. She would not lie and say that she did not feel at least a little bit of joy stepping on them.

As she rounded the worn concrete walls of Akademi High School Oka steeled herself. She would have to ignore the stares and questions that would inevitably be whispered about where she had been for the past few weeks. The rumor mills would begin and the usual suspects would start their chatter about where the goth had gone off to, as if they truly cared. All she had to do was ride it out as usual. Eventually their gazes would turn elsewhere and their questions would peter out in disinterest as they moved on to the latest hot topic of the week. One of the most positive things she could say about her classmates was that they were, naturally, high school students. By definition their attention spans were only as long as a trending hashtag being relevant on Birdsong.

Oka took a deep breath as she moved in time with the mob, rounding the corner, and went through the gates. Everywhere around her there was wave upon wave of bright oblong colored shapes as students mingled together. It was a reason she liked muted colors so much. If you spent all your life surrounding by gaudy things then she was sure no one would fault her for wanting to seem as drab as possible. Black and gray might come off as negative to many people but it did not define who anyone was any more than one of the rumor-hungry girls around her was angelic by virtue of wearing pastels.

Her pace was slow and uneven as she moved quietly towards Akademi's lockers. As much as she did not like to admit it Oka felt a little nauseous staring at the endless waves of Greens, Blues, and every other shade imaginable as she made her way inside. Being away from crowds for so long certainly had done a number on her ability to be in control of her gift. It had taken her years to avoid being sick just by standing in an open space with dozens of people and she was not about to start school again with three weeks' worth of studying waiting for her just upstairs by visiting the nurse's office.

As she stepped into the entranceway she mumbled apologies as her fellow students aggressively pushed past her to their lockers. That was not anything new either. All of them were so oblivious that she was sure they would barely notice if she tripped and fell and they trampled over her in their mad dash to begin socializing. Oka knew that if she was not aggressive, though, that she was unlikely to reach her own locker. Sighing Oka rolled up her proverbial sleeves as she waded past several girls and accidentally ended up elbowing one next to her as she reached for her own lock. After a moment's pause to remember what her combination was she twisted the lock open, reaching down to undo her shoes before replacing them with the pair from the locker to complete her school uniform. Her last morning task completed Oka picked up her bag and gently closed the small metal door shut.

She stood there momentarily and pondered what to do. One the one hand she definitely owed the Basu sisters a visit. They had the same schedule every morning: stand on the rooftop before school and shoot the breeze about whatever boy toy they had managed to ensnare that week. But Oka was sure that they were hiding something. All the books she had read told her that creatures like vampires or succubi were masters of hiding in plain sight. If beings like that truly existed – and given her own experiences she had no doubt that they did – Oka could not think of a more appropriate place for them to find prey and emotionally charged teenagers filling their day-to-day lives with drama was the perfect place for their kind to thrive. She was not sure exactly what she would do if or when she got the chance to confront them properly but she had taken the time to prepare herself. She had learned to string cloves of garlic together and even bought religious symbols from a variety of faiths the latter of which was hidden in a small box in the occult room itself.

Oka was no horror movie waif.

But she desperately wanted to see her friends. Oka had not been allowed to use her cellphone for the time that she had been gone from home and contact with the outside world had been limited to her parents. She had had barely enough time to let the club know that she would be gone for a few weeks before being shipped off and she had only managed to text the group last Saturday that would be back. Shin, Chojo, Daku, Kokuma, Supana, she could count them on a single hand but they had stuck by her through thick and thin over the years. They had never judged her or her ability; they had simply accepted Oka for who she was. Everyone had told her that they were worried sick and wanted to see her as soon as they could. She had been planning on it right after school–

The club.

They had decided, after much debate, to put a flier up on the poster board that sat in front of the lockers at school. Shin and Chojo had been in favor of opening up the club to newer members, stating that perhaps fresh minds might see something in their magic that was wrong and could help fix it, while Supana and Kokuma had been against it, saying that all of the magic that they were trying to perform was too complex for someone who would only have weeks, months, or even only a few days under their belts to handle. It had come down to Oka to make a decision and she had tentatively agreed with Chojo and Shin. To gauge interest they had written vouchers for their ad, each a small strip of carefully cut paper to act as proof that person had read over the poster itself and taken one, to be presented when they showed up to apply. Smiling to herself Oka turned around and began to move back towards the twin cork boards at the front of the locker room's hall. She did not expect to see many if any at all of the strips taken but she could at the very least compliment whoever put it together. Supana was a wonderful artist if she decided to apply herself.

It was to her surprise then that a boy was standing in front of her and gazing intently at the occult club's poster.

* * *

Taro Yamada stood in front of the school's club advertisements with a frown.

For the past three weeks he had been flirting with the idea of joining one of the after school clubs and had yet to make up his mind. He knew that he would have to make up his mind about one of them eventually. It was not a good idea to keep hopping in and out; sooner or later the club presidents were bound to stop allowing him to stick around and see their activities if he kept things up. Why waste time trying to impress someone who was just as liable to leave by next week? Taro could sympathize with that. Trying to justify your continued to existence to the faculty meant you needed a steady membership. It did not look good if you just let anyone join and leave at any time for whatever trivial reason they could come up with.

That was not to say that his search was not frustrating, however.

His gaze moved back and forth between each of the posters, every one of them having their own unique brand to sell. He had to admit that it was almost a little overwhelming even if on an instinctual level Taro knew that it was all just talk. It was the job of each club to make their own group sound like they had the most interesting subject in the world but he loved how each club tried to be flashy in their own way. The science club's offer had included a miniature sketch of a robot and even the gardening club boasted that they had effectively saved much of the school's greenery as their efforts to improve their allotted space increased the budget for a grounds keeping staff (admittedly one old man).

He had joined the gardening club previously in second year when he had done well enough academically that his parents let him join an extracurricular activity. He loved gardening. There was something peaceful in digging up the earth and putting down seeds that one would one day become flowering plants. He was not religious in the least but even he could appreciate the aesthetics and care that went into maintaining a garden. When he had first signed up he had hoped that it would be what he had dreamt about in the days before joining: a simple get together among friends where they could work with one another to improve the look of Akademi. He had been especially interested in possibly helping to care for the enormous cherry blossom tree out in the field next to the school, a natural monument said to be the reason that the site had been chosen in the first place to build the school where it was.

But people have ways of screwing things up.

Haru Fujimoto was the club president and Taro had immediately disliked the other boy. It was not even the arrogance from Fujimoto that he found the most grating though that definitely did not help. No, it was the attitude that he had towards female members that rubbed Taro the wrong way. The only way that he could accurately describe him was… unseemly. There never seemed to be a moment where the other boy did not try to ingratiate himself with any of the girls in the club. Helping them dig fresh holes, gift them flowers picked from the student gardens, push wheelbarrows for them, it had all seemed innocent enough. But his constant attempts to find excuses to get up next to them had left Taro feeling as if something were greatly wrong. When confronted about it Fujimoto had simply laughed it off, telling him that he was imagining things or maybe even jealous, but Taro knew better. Not that it had mattered in the end. Despite informing the faculty Fujimoto had managed to charm them all into believing that he was totally innocent and Taro had left the club in protest.

The thought that Fujimoto was still in charge and had gone unpunished made Taro's stomach turn. How could something as simple as tending to plants lead to such grotesque behavior? Normally Taro tried to get along with everyone he could; after all, the world was already a difficult enough place as it was there was no need to make things even worse. The club should have been about the fun of helping the environment or even the simple pleasure of their fellow students remarking about how beautiful the fruit of their work was. Many of the friends he had made there tried to get him to come back but he had held fast to his principles. It was not to say that Taro did not want to participate in one of the after school activities of course. It had taken him a long time to work up the courage to try and find a different group but he had come around to the fact that while people like Fujimoto were not going away any time soon they were at least outliers. Surely, one of Akademi's other clubs would be more promising. But all of them made him pause whenever he considered them objectively.

Sports? Taro was not much of an athlete, a reason that turned him off from the martial artists at the school as well, and did not need an entire two hours after school to remind himself of that no matter how nice Budo Masuta or Asu Rito were supposed to be. Art? Well, he did like doodling but given that some of the members had had their work submitted recently to the city's modern art museum it was more than a little intimidating. Light music? His job at the convenience store might have given him a source of yen but he was not sure he wanted to put down the money to buy an instrument. Photography? He could barely take pictures properly with his phone let alone an actual camera. Sewing? That would have been nice but they had disbanded last year when former president Ayane Tachibana had graduated. The newspaper? He had never even seen the head of the paper, let alone heard anything about them from anyone else, so he was not even aware of how to apply in the first place. Gaming? He was sure that the other club members would eat him alive in any competitive games they had available. But it would have been nice to talk with someone about the latest _Yanvania_. Beldere-chan was so cute…

 _Ugh, get a hold of yourself, Yamada._

He glanced only briefly at the posters for the cooking and drama clubs before averting his gaze. 'Odayaka… Sunobu…' No, what was done was done. He had grieved with the rest of the student body when they had their lives cut tragically short. Accidents happened everywhere in the world every day and all it proved was that they could happen in one's own backyard. Even if he had never joined either of them in any official capacity he was not sure he could bring himself to do so after the fact. Amai's warm voice would not be there to greet him when he went into the school's kitchen to offer him the gyudon she was cooking and Kizana's haughty tone would not correct some minor flaw in his posture or inflection that would have completely thrown off a scene. They were gone and that was that.

It was to Taro's own surprise then that the one poster that caught his eye was probably the silliest of them all. The flowing robes of the purple-haired girl hung loosely on her as she held out her arms as her palms glowed a bright white with the phrase 'JOIN THE OCCULT CLUB!' written off to the side in hastily written kanji. Amused Taro leaned in closer to the paper and looked at the even smaller writing underneath it.

 _Have you ever seen a ghost? Come across a kappa? Wanted to meet an oni?_

 _If so, then the members of Akademi's occult club are inviting you to their H.Q., first floor, northern wing._

 _Join us from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday after school clean up hours to enter into a realm between light and darkness, beyond the real and unreal, a place of fear and imagination. This is not for the faint of heart! But don't worry: we're prepared to help you navigate the mysterious workings of the universe and to learn mechanisms put in place long before man existed. Anyone who can claim to have had a supernatural experience is welcome._

 _Stop on by – we're ready to believe you!_

'This… can't be real.'

He had heard of the occult club before in passing and if Taro were completely honest with himself he did not see how or why the faculty continued to allow it to exist. At least he could see how the gamers could justify their organization based on the fact that it promoted friendly competition. He had to admit, however, that there was something charming about their goofiness.

Still, was that really the sort of club that Taro wanted to tell people he was a part of? Popularity was something that had never mattered to him but he was well aware of its low reputation among his classmates. Taro was positive that if he did then any chance he might have at a normal senior year could be kissed goodbye once word got out. He had been bullied before in middle school and was not eager to repeat any of those experiences again.

Taro paused as his own thoughts warred against one another. He would be graduating at the end of his third year and he had not done anything truly 'wild.' He did not really go parties, did not vandalize anything with his friends, drink, smoke, and had not dated once in his entire high school career. As painful as it was to admit he supposed the best description of himself would be bland. Of course he got along with almost everyone in an acquaintances-only sort of way but he had few genuine friendships. 'Almost seems like… a waste,' Taro thought to himself. It would not have been the first time he had thought that either. High school and college were supposed to be a time of adventure or so the wisdom went, a time to be a young man and let loose before the responsibilities of life ate you up and spat you out. Instead Taro was dependable and safe; perhaps he was even boring. He had been content for a long time sitting underneath the courtyard trees during lunchtime with his books but a part of him was yearning for something different. As he reached towards one of the invitational strips he paused when he heard a soft voice speak behind him.

"A-are you p-p-planning on joining u-u-u-us?"

Taro practically leapt at the sound. Whirling around, flailing his arms wildly, he stood face-to-face with a young woman. Violet eyes gazed at him under messy navy blue bangs as the girl stood there watching him with an expression that sat somewhere between hope and an attempt at feigning disinterest. He had never seen the young woman standing before him – and he liked to think he would remember someone who was so overt in how her skin was so pale it seemed to practically glow – and he tried to rack his brain to excuse himself from his embarrassing greeting.

"…Bwuh?"

 _Brilliant, Yamada._

The girl raised an eyebrow slightly and put a barely noticeable step between them. Her gazed moved from the piece of paper that had been hastily ripped from the board that had now fallen to the floor and Taro's flustered face.

"Yes! No? Maybe…"

Taro closed his eyes. 'There's no reason to continue looking like an idiot. She caught you at a bad time. So what?' Looking past the girl to one of the lockers Taro cleared his throat and brushed the creases that had formed on his gakuran. 'Alright, Yamada, take a deep breath. Just like Uncle taught you that summer about meditating.'

The girl looked at him pensively before offering him a small smile presumably in the hope that she could steer the conversation somewhere normal. It did not quite work; the girl's features just did not seem suited to joy. Even with her mouth open in a friendly manner it contrasted greatly with everything else about her.

"Are you… okay?"

She hesitated a moment, swallowing, before forcing the rest of the sentence out. That puzzled Taro for only a moment before he realized just what she had wanted to avoid. 'She's trying not to stutter.' He was not sure what the proper etiquette in a situation like this was. Did he wait for her to finish all her thoughts before responding? Did he try to lead their conversation?

"…I'm fine. Sorry. I guess I just get scared a little too easily."

The girl bent down, gingerly picking up the invitation that he had dropped, before standing back up. Dainty fingers reached out towards him holding the slip of paper. Taro stretched out his own hand and took it from her and slipped it into his pocket.

"You… dropped that."

"Y-yeah."

He winced. There was no need to make it seem like he might be making fun of her.

 _Or are you overanalyzing everything like you always do?_

 _Shut up._

"I, uh, thought the occult club looked interesting. Not like the others can claim to be in contact with otherworldly phenomena, y'know?"

The girl's cheeks became pink and stood out almost jarringly from the dark bags under her eyes. She gestured towards the pocket he had put the slip into.

"Yes, we just opened it up to new members. We figured... having some new blood would do us… some good. If you don't mind… me asking, why did you… pick it up?"

Taro frowned inwardly. It was not as if he actually believed in any of what he had read on the flyer. He had never heard of any supposedly supernatural event that he actually thought were real. It was all make believe that people chose to accept to make the world seem like it was a more interesting place. It would be rude to tell her that the only reason it was even on his person now was because it would have been rude not to take it from her.

"Well, I won't lie, I don't think I've ever actually had a 'supernatural experience' but I figured, 'hey, that seems interesting.' You can find all those other clubs at every school in the country."

It was not a complete lie. After all, except the rumor that the science club was a bunch of mad scientists who had created a robot there really was nothing at Akademi that could remotely be described as out of the ordinary. There were dozens of schools like it nationwide and Taro knew there was not much that was special about it other than its age and the fact that it was a private institution.

"I just liked the contrast. We're so traditional around here that sometimes it hurts a little but we all act out in our own ways, right?" He gestured to her shirt sleeves and leggings. "You dress like that 'cause you want to. It's not normal."

The girl wrinkled her nose at that, huffing quietly in irritation. It was a remark he was sure she would have heard a hundred times before.

"Sorry! That's not how I meant it. I mean, well, that's what makes you you. It's unique. Me? I'd like to branch out a bit and get out of my comfort zone. You guys are letting people come as they are, right?"

"It's… fine. Apology accepted."

The girl's features softened again as she looked away from him.

"Yes… we are. But not having any sort of experiences with the supernatural would be… a problem."

He followed her eyes up to the ceiling, watching her absently play with the spider choker she wore around her neck, the jewelry seeming to be even more of a dull gray under Akademi's artificial lighting. Was she nervous? He did not have the faintest idea why. He had fumbled almost every step of the way; he could not imagine himself being intimidating even if he tried.

"But from what you've said... I think you're different. Most people make fun of us and they don't… want to bother trying to understand. Maybe you won't stay, but would you consider joining us… once? Some… of my friends didn't know if we should open up to other students. I'd like to… hope that maybe we can get others involved."

Her eyes darted quickly back to one of the room's many corners and she stood there, fidgeting, wringing her hands on the hem of her skirt.

 _Yup. Definitely skittish. I wonder why she's so nervous?_

He was sure that he had never seen the girl before today but he supposed that that made sense. 'Occult club keeps to themselves; I doubt most of the other students actually know anything about them – and neither do I, come to think of it.' It was all just rumors and hearsay and little of it was good. Even Taro had to admit that his thoughts earlier had been unkind without really thinking about it. 'She's done nothing but be approachable and here you are second guessing her, Taro.'

"Look, uh…?"

"Oka Ruto."

"Oka, yeah. Trust me, I'd love to join but…"

He watched the Oka's face falter ever so slightly though she still tried to put on the face of a detached professional. Taro was positive that it was something that she had probably planned to hear aloud but he was sure it still hurt all the same. Guilt washed over him; he hated seeing anyone, especially women, upset and doubly so if he was the cause of it. It did not help that if he were being honest with himself she was rather beautiful in a kind of unconventional way. It was a mystery to Taro that she seemed to care less about her appearance than so many of the other girls at Akademi if her lack of sleep and brushed hair were any indication but it did not seem to matter in the slightest.

 _She's trying to get you to join something that she loves and you're standing here thinking about how she looks? Get over yourself, man._

"But it's just not a good time for me at the moment. I've never been that great of a student and I had to talk my parents down from 'no clubs at all 'till your grades go up' to 'one, if you can manage it.' They… they might not like me joining yours. They're kind of uptight. I'm sorry."

He gave an apologetic bow to Oka as she nodded sadly.

"B-believe me, I k-k-know the feeling."

Her stutter was back. Gods, he felt genuinely awful.

"But hey," he patted his pocket and tried to give Oka a reassuring smile. "Once I improve my studying a little I know where you guys are, right? A little rebellion now and again can be a good thing."

At the very least he could go once and make it up to the goth girl.

"…O-okay, then. I g-guess we'll just have to wait and s-s-s-see, won't we?"

"Yeah. I'm sure we'll see each other in the hallways between classes so promise me you won't let me forget about it, alright?"

It was Oka's turn to give him a small bow and he could tell by the way that her shoulders were shaking that he had made her day even if it had just begun.

"I d-don't know w-w-what to say other than t-thank you…?"

"My name is Taro Yamada."

"S-see you around, Taro."

"Of course, Oka."

He left her standing there in front of the boards as he made his way out the back doors to the school's courtyard. The morning dew on the lawn shone brightly, its wet texture creating shimmering blankets that sat at each corner of the enclosure. He breathed in the smell of the blooming plant life deeply. Whatever troubles he came to school with or occurred to him did not matter; he could always come here and relax. Walking to the small stone fountain that sat in the middle of the courtyard, he gently lowered himself onto the uncomfortable but familiar stone bench that sat in front of it. Opening the latch on his bag, he gently put it on the ground and opened up a novel and let himself get lost in the words.

* * *

Chance was a curious thing.

Despite how much it could change the world there was no rhyme or reason to it. The slightest little difference to an event could have enormous consequences all due to someone doing or saying something at exactly the right moment. It had been chance that had led Ayano to run into Senpai one morning when she was late for school.

She did not believe in 'fate.' It did not exist. There was only probability and that was a reason, among many, that she cherished Senpai so much. She could have gone throughout life an empty shell, never knowing what it was like to feel anything, but she had met him and it had all changed. She could not go back to the way things were before. Ayano would rather drive one of her many knives into her own skull before even contemplating such a disturbing thought.

Ayano had learned to take chances. Even if something had no immediate benefit to it there was no guarantee it would not come in handy in the future. It was the reason, then, that she had taken notice of the girl who had rather rudely come up next to her and elbowed her in the side, causing her to wince slightly, as she glanced over at her assaulter. The girl was about her size and had a similarly lithe frame, her shoulders hunched slightly as she wrestled with the lock combination. Her posture indicated to Ayano that she was probably not very aggressive.

The girl's outfit was particularly odd. 'Custom leggings and shirt? Curious…' It was not against Akademi's rules to modify or add onto the uniforms that were provided but it was usually limited to pins or some sort of small accessory. The girl beside her clearly wanted to stand out for whatever reason. Was it an attempt at vanity? Doubtful. The deep circles underneath her eyes that Ayano initially mistook for eye shadow, her rather unhealthy pale complexion, along with aggressively unkempt hair suggested that if anything she wanted to be left alone. Perhaps her clothes were out of some misguided attempt at trying to be special? Yes, that was rather more likely.

What was most surprising to her was that she had never seen the girl before since school had started. There was surely a reason why someone would miss the first three weeks. Perhaps a suicide attempt? It was a cliché judgment based upon the girl's appearance but it seemed plausible enough to Ayano. It was worth an investigation later at any rate; she needed to keep up with her 'peers' as much as she loathed the idea. A recently returned student after a long absence was sure to generate quite the gossip at lunchtime and the girl did not need much guesswork as to her almost certainly low social standing.

"Ayano, how've you been holding up?"

She had been so lost in concentration with her target that she had not noticed that another girl had walked up to her. Cursing under her breath as the goth walked away, Ayano was met face-to-face with Kokona Haruka. The older girl's face was filled with concern as she stood there with her hands clasped tightly together, her head cocked to one side. It took almost everything almost like a bird. Ayano barely resisted the desire to roll her eyes and instead she opted to try and convey what she could only hope was anxiousness.

"I don't know, Kokona. Last week was a lot to take in."

"Yeah… guess it was, wasn't it?"

Kokona Haruka, for reasons Ayano could not fathom, had been one of the most persistent girls in the drama club in attempting to 'befriend' her. No matter what she did Haruka always seemed to want to do something with her or talk with her. It was physically exhausting to simply be around the other girl but she figured that it was worth it rather than to break anything off. Haruka was one of the most popular girls in school; there was little that she did not hear about and the girl's eagerness to talk her ear off did have its uses even if the price was high. At least it did not have the possibility of her getting caught and having to explain why pictures of girls' underwear were on her phone at any rate.

"You don't think that anyone was purposefully trying to hurt Kizuna, do you?"

Haruka frowned at her, her ridiculous twin drills swaying gently back and forth, and she looked at Ayano as if she had grown a second head.

"What makes you think that? It was just a really bad accident, right? I mean, that's what the police told everyone."

Ayano knew that to mention such a possibility was a dangerous game. If something was not out in the open then there was no real reason to get people thinking about it. But a part of her was always interested to see how they would respond to a murderer in their midst.

"I guess… it just seems like something out of a murder mystery. You know, a bad guy with an elaborate death trap for one of the victims."

She gave the other girl a sheepish look when she noticed the grimace that Haruka was giving her.

"…Sorry. It just helps to take my mind off of it if there was some **reason**."

She knew that it was difficult for her to convey emotion, especially with her monotone, but she was not worried. Ayano had developed several different strategies to lull others into thinking she was just like them. Folding her arms across her chest she shivered and kicked the back of one of her shoes with the other and sighed.

"I guess I'm just a little shook up, that's all."

Haruka's annoyed expression gave way into a broad grin as she moved forward to pull Ayano into a hug that caused her back to pop. The girl was incredibly touchy-feely; she had actually yelped in what she could only assume was surprise the first time that she had been welcomed into the drama club and swarmed by many of the girls present eager to gain another gossip buddy. She was not fond of the gesture and even less fond of the fact that since Haruka was taller it was made infinitely more awkward by the other girl's enormous breasts being where her head ended up when she was pulled forward.

"Don't worry about it, Ayano. If you need to talk about it all, I'm here. That's what friends are for, right?"

Wheezing slightly as the other girl released her Ayano gave Haruka a plastic smile, one of the things that she was most proud of (she had spent hours perfecting it in the mirror at home), as she squeezed Haruka's hands.

"Thanks. Knew I could count on you, Kokona–"

She stopped midsentence as an all too familiar tone met her ears. She would recognize it anywhere: it was His voice. Senpai's. Her eyes widened involuntarily and Haruka raised an eyebrow. She ignored the girl next to her momentarily as she craned her neck to and fro, trying to find out just where he was.

"Are you sure you're alright, Ayano? You still seem a little high strung. Maybe we should go see the counselor together…"

"N-no, it's fine. I'm fine. Just thought I heard someone I knew, that's all."

The once easygoing expression on Haruka's face had changed again to one of concern.

"Alright, if you're sure…"

Then she heard it again.

"I mean, well, that's what makes you you. It's unique. Me? I'd like to branch out a bit and get out of my comfort zone. I'm not very good at a lot of things. You guys are letting people come as they are, right?"

'No, don't talk that about yourself that way, silly. You're the most wonderful, smartest, handsomest, funniest, dashing boy there is. None of them even come close to your magnificence; never let them tell you otherwise.'

She paused.

'Letting them come as they are? What does that mean?'

On a whim Ayano turned briefly away from Haruka, the girl grumbling in irritation at being ignored, towards the front of the locker room. There was her prince, hair combed gently to the side and skin glowing softly in the light coming in from the outside, with…

With the same bitch who had hit her earlier.

All Ayano could see was red. Who did the harlot think she was, just prostrating herself before her god as if she had any right? Oh, she would pay, yes. Her mind filled with fantasies as she slowly balled her fists together, nails digging into her palms and her knuckles cracking. Perhaps she would track her down after school, wrestling the girl to the ground as she put her mouth on the sidewalk and slamming her foot into the back of her head, the glorious cracking of her teeth ringing in her ears as she bled out. Or perhaps she would push the girl off of the school's roof and watch her flailing wildly to right herself before landing head first onto the concrete below, watching her head explode like an overripe melon. Maybe she would make things extra special and kidnap her – something she had yet to try – and tie her up in the basement. Perhaps she would torture her by hooking up her genitals to a car battery or even sodomize the whore with whatever she found lying around the house. No lubrication, either.

 _Diediediediediediedie._

"Ayano, what's going on with you? You're shaking."

Oh, right. She was not alone.

Ayano set her hands at her sides neatly and looked back at Haruka who stood there looking highly concerned with the same sort of mothering expression on her face that Taisho had worn earlier that day, sitting ill-fittingly on her young features. She had to get a grip on herself; there was no way that Haruka should ever suspect that anything was amiss ever again.

 _Time to improvise._

"Sorry about that. Guess I might still need my jacket. Cold in here today, isn't it?"

It didn't help that the front doors were wide open but she hoped her idiot would buy it.

"It is…"

She felt Haruka's gaze look past her and for a moment Ayano panicked. There was no way Haruka could piece together why she had reacted like she had a moment ago, was there? There was no way that, even if she somehow had seen what she had done, she could connect it to the two across the hall, was there? She had not been subtle at all but she was sure the other girl had seen little.

"Oh great. Look who's back…"

That gave Ayano pause.

"Huh?" she asked intelligently.

Haruka nodded her head to the **girl** behind Ayano.

"That's Oka Ruto. She's really weird; doesn't have too many friends from what I know."

 _So you do have some gray matter in there and not just silicone._

"I've never seen her before. Was she out of school for some reason?"

Haruka frowned and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I heard that. Don't know what for exactly, though. Pretty sure no one got hurt or anything but I haven't seen her since the semester started."

So she had been right and Ruto had been out of school under unexplainable circumstances. The girl dressed strangely, had a small circle of friends, and was not particularly popular. It was not much to go on but it was at least a start. Perhaps if she knew whom or where she spent time with, though, it would be possible to get her alone and…

Ayano paused. 'You're trying not to murder anyone this week, remember?' Oh, but it was so, so tempting. The invisible gauntlet had been thrown down and she ached to answer the challenge. But having a mysterious disappearance so soon was inviting trouble and doubly so if she could not be positive that the death would be quick and clean. Getting information from Haruka was much less involved than being Info-chan's slave for the good part of a day anyway.

"Wouldn't her friends know? You said she doesn't have many but I would think they would've been told where she'd run off to."

It was an unspoken challenge of her own to Haruka and she could see the older girl bristle slightly at the implication that she had failed in being the queen bee that she thought she was. 'What sort of girl tries to copy another's style identically when trying to get to the top of the social ladder anyway? Honestly, if Sunobu couldn't make those ridiculous ringlets work neither can Haruka…'

"Well… they're all in the occult club. I don't think I have to tell you why no one really wants to go there."

"Okay? I don't understand. I wouldn't think they'd be that unapproachable."

"Look, Ayano. I know you're knew to," she gestured slightly and cast an apologetic look her way before continuing, "…to these kinds of things."

'You didn't really know anyone not too long ago either.' Ayano had to admit that at least Haruka knew what tact was even if it did not bother her in the least.

"The occult club just gives me the creeps. It gives most people a really bad feeling too. I don't think anyone believes in any of that mumbo jumbo but ever since they popped up… I don't know. Just forget I said anything, alright? I don't really want to think about stuff like that given everything that happened last week."

"Fair enough, Kokona. I'm sorry, I was just curious, that's all."

The purple-haired girl shook her head and began to turn away from her before pausing and looking back.

"You know, the offer is still open. If you're interested in getting to know the other girls, you'll know where to find me. Maybe if you wanted to sit with us at lunch…?"

Ayano did not particularly want to get closer to Haruka. She had no use for friends but all the same she had to admit that they had their uses. Everyone one of the girls that she hung out with was as vapid as she was but they were social butterflies in their own way. Each had a sizable network that they could tap into and if she could get to know at least one or two of them it boded well in keeping her fingers on the pulse of the school's rumors.

"Maybe later, Kokona. I'm a little nervous. I've… I've never really been in your social circle before."

Haruka waved her arms at Ayano in a shooing motion. "Stop it, Ayano. I wouldn't turn you away like that. The other girls might not seem approachable at first, but trust me, once they see how much of a sweetheart you are I'm sure they won't mind." She leaned forward once more and Ayano quickly moved in to give her another hug, mechanically patting her back before parting once more.

She supposed that if she had to give Haruka credit the girl at least generally defied the stereotype of the popular girl. So long as one could be called 'normal' the girl had no problem seemingly wanting to know them. Social cliques did not bother her much and it had worked out in Ayano's favor so far. The very least she could do was string her along as long as she was able to.

Now all she had to do was focus on what really mattered.

As she turned around she saw that Senpai had long since left the announcement board and was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Ruto for that matter. There were several ways in which her hunt could unfold, Ayano knew. Asking around about the other girl would surely draw attention to herself, especially at a time when many students might not even know she was officially back yet. Contacting Info-chan was a possibility but she certainly did not want to waste even more of her time doing menial labor; she had even bothered with Haruka at all to avoid texting her. She looked over at one of the clocks on the wall above the lockers. 7:25 a.m. Was there even enough time to start looking? She had no desire to get in trouble with the faculty over being tardy. Idiots though they were they had total control over her future and she dreaded accumulating too many late-to-class notes in bright red pen.

Strolling over to the beat up cork board she scanned it until she found the occult club's poster. Snorting Ayano reached out and gently plucked one of the tickets from the bottom. 'Haruka was right. Monsters? You can't be serious…' If nothing else it was a start at least. She would scout out this occult club, find Ruto, and make her pay. She had not decided how to punish her but it would be delicious when she did. Revenge was a dish best served cold, as people said, and she would not hesitate to prove it if she could. Spinning on her heels Ayano worked her way over to the stairs.

It was like a puzzle. All she had to do was fit the pieces into place.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

This is actually one of the longest pieces of fan fiction that I've ever written. I hope that it was worthwhile because I'm not really sure about my abilities as a writer. As such as much as I would like to hear people's praises I would like it a lot more if you could critique what you've just read, if you'd be so kind. Please leave him in your reviews, or if not, feel free to PM me.

This story initially began as a five-shot that would basically cover the hypothetical week four of Yandere Simulator (i.e., Oka's in-game story arc) but it's grown into something more. I had too much fun coming up with personalities for Ayano, Oka, Senpai, and to a lesser extent Kokona and I hope some of that came through. Basically, I'll end the story when I feel like it. It could end in a few chapters or go on even longer to cover the other rivals; it all really depends.

You will notice some differences from canon too. I've mixed and matched Ayano's original back story with her current one to use one example and other, minor details might change but those are largely stylistic choices because I might feel something is more interesting, such as OCs (apologies in advance if people aren't fans of those but I figure I can get away with that in a game that's still technically in the alpha stage). One of those things is giving Oka actual supernatural powers as opposed to just having her as a straight up dork. Don't worry, you'll definitely get to see her be one later but for right now it's a little more serious. She's playing with fire and she's definitely not ready for what's heading her way.

This story started life as was a one-sided Ayano/Oka story and that's what this is ultimately going to be, at its heart, but there are other possibilities. I'd actually like to hear what you think: should I keep Oka's eventual affections unrequited? Or would a love triad with Ayano and Taro be more interesting? Sure, that violates canon, but this is fan fic, so… meh.

'Till next time.

P.S. Since I forgot to mention it before, Birdsong is the LoveSick universe equivalent of Twitter. Rather than tweeting, you 'chirp' on it.


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